Stop and think about the loudest person you know. They are even nearly as loud as the noisiest animals on earth. While many animals expect them to be very quiet to surprise their prey, these animals use their loudness in unusual ways, such as finding another person, defending territory, cherishing a mate, or warning their companions about predators. The average human conversation is about 50 decibels, and the human eardrum ruptures at about 200 decibels. However, many of these animals regularly approach this level. This list of the loudest animals on Earth is compiled for the decibel level they can produce.
# 10 Loudest Animals: North American Bull Frog – 119 decibels
The North American bullfrog makes several different sounds for communication. The loudest sound, which can be about 119 decibels, is made with an open mouth, while frogs make all the others with a closed mouth. This loud sound is a cry of distress. Bull frogs will also make low growling noises when caught and struggle to escape. They make a grinding noise when they talk to each other. Male frogs will give a short, sharp cry when another male tries to enter their territory. The most frequent call from a bullfrog is a promotional call made by males near breeding grounds. In some cases, older women may also make promotional calls.
# 9 Loudest Animals: African Cicadas – 120 decibels
There are over 3600 species of African cicadas, and more are found regularly. While they are all loud, the loudest may be Green Grocer and Yellow Monday. These insects emit sounds of up to 120 decibels, which are carried up to 1.5 miles. Only male cicadas make any sounds, and they do this to attract females. They are unique in the insect world because they have special parts called timbels in their abdomen. Cicadas use muscles throughout the body to compress the abdomen and make sounds.
# 8 Loudest Animals: Northern Elephant Seal –126 decibels
Females of northern elephant seals make sounds to communicate with their calves. Small puppies can be noisy when mom is not around and they sense danger. The loudest sound comes from a male northern elephant seal, which can reach 126 decibels. Researchers believe that each northern elephant seal has its own unique voice.
In addition, the researchers believe it is the only animal outside of humans that makes decisions based on human vocalization. When a northern elephant seal moves to a new rookery, it learns a completely new language, since each rookery has its own dialect. Although northern elephant seals can make sounds on land and water, they usually only really make noise on land or nearby.
Males make the loudest sounds to alert other males that this is their territory. The other male then decides to challenge that male or move to a different location depending on the sound. It is the only animal known to researchers that can make decisions based on the sound of each individual voice, with the exception of humans.
7. Loudest animals: Moluccan cockatoo – 129 decibels.
The Moluccan cockatoo can scream up to 129 decibels, about the same level as the 747 jet. Like dogs, if you have a Moluccan cockatoo, they will scream to alert you that they are feeling trouble nearby. These cockatoos also often scream when they are bored. If you have more than one of them, they will often scream at the same time, and this usually happens right before bed.
6. Loudest animals: Kakapo – 132 decibels.
Kakapo is the largest parrot in the world and one of the rarest parrots. If not for the work of Don Merton and others in New Zealand’s Kakapo recovery program, this flightless bird could have become extinct. When researchers first discovered that this bird was still alive, they found only males. Then they found four females. After studying fewer than 84 known birds in 2000, researchers felt they needed to act quickly.
To save the bird, they airlifted the bird, which was loved by weasels and ferrets, to a remote island, where the coast was so indented that the boat could not moor. They chose the remote Codfish Island off the southern coast of New Zealand because there were no predators on the island. As of 2020, the number of kakapo has increased to 211 adult birds. Rescuing this bird was not an easy task as they usually breed every 4-5 years and will not start until they are 4 years old.
Male kakapos often ring up to 132 decibels to attract women. However, after mating, they leave the female kakapo to lay one to four eggs and feed the young on their own. Flightless kakapos must receive up to 16 rome nuts per minute to feed each chick overnight. During this process, which can last up to 6 months, the female often loses half of her weight.
During the breeding season, males congregate on rocks to make loud screams consisting of 20-30 sonic beats followed by a metallic jing sound. This loud sound can last for up to 8 hours every night.
# 5 Loudest Animals: Howler Monkey – 140 decibels
Cries of male howler monkeys can reach 140 decibels. The volume of a monkey’s vocalization depends on at least four different factor
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The scream will be louder when the sound resonates well. Secondly, if the sound attracts the female, the male will become even louder, trying to excite her.
Third, if the howler monkey competes with other males, they will try to scream as loudly as they can. Finally, the subspecies that howl the loudest usually use very few other methods to attract females, while those who do not scream as loudly use other methods.
# 4 Loudest Animals: Big Bulldog Bat – 140 decibels
If you think of bats as quiet animals, you are wrong with the large bulldog bat that lives in Mexico, Argentina, and some of the Caribbean. Their screeching is 100 times louder than a rock concert. Different species of bats squeal at unique frequencies, which can help other bats to distinguish between species at a distance. The large bulldog bat has the highest sound frequency, but it is not as well airborne as those with lower cries.
Scientists are now applying the knowledge gained from bats to make robots perform better, especially in the dark. Scientists also believe that they have incorrectly measured decibel levels in bats in the past and that small bats, such as the large bulldog bat, which weighs about 1.7 ounces, or roughly 10 US cents, may be much louder than previously thought. …
# 3 loudest animals: blue whales -188 decibels
The blue whale is one of the largest living things, so it’s no surprise that it makes one of the loudest sounds. However, the sounds of the blue whale have the same frequency as many other sounds that can be found in the oceans in which they inhabit, including ship engines, low frequency active sonar, and seismic air cannon array studies. Although blue whales often travel alone thousands of miles, this ocean noise pollution can cause serious problems with feeding, breeding, navigation and communication.
# 2 loudest animals: mantis shrimp – 200 decibels
The mantis shrimp, found in tropical and temperate seas, have unique claws that they can close very quickly to catch their prey. When they close the claw, a loud bang is emitted from the resulting water bubble. This sound can reach 200 decibels. The sound scares the prey, giving it time to catch it and take it apart for a meal. When the water bubble bursts, it also makes natural light glow, further distracting its prey. It is the only animal in the world that makes a sound during cavitation. The process can also generate heat that is hotter than the surface of the sun.
# 1 Loudest Animals: Sperm Whale – 233 decibels
The sperm whale is the largest toothed whale on Earth, and its brain is larger than that of any other animal on Earth. Early whalers reported hearing hammer-like sounds whenever they caught a sperm whale. Scientists now know these reports are accurate and believe that the sperm whale’s head acts like a giant telegraph.
The sperm whale is capable of making clicking sounds, the volume of which can reach 233 decibels. He makes these sounds by pumping air through his right nostril. The nostrils pass through a series of air-filled sacs. The whale’s unique body part, called the monkey’s lips, contracts and air continues to bounce off the sacs, making a unique clicking sound. The sound then travels through the animal’s brain, where it is amplified even louder before the sound finally leaves the whale’s body.
Sperm whales can make at least three different types of clicks. One he uses as a long-range sonar. The most frequent click is a click, which sounds like a door squeak and means that prey is imminent. The whale also has a unique cooing click that it uses when interacting with other animals.
Next up: will cicadas summon more snakes? Bear cubs?